“The play that changed American theater forever” (The New York Times), will make its way to The Smith Center in honor of the 2018 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. week celebration. Lorraine Hansberry’s play follows the Younger family yearning for a better life far from the cramped confines of their Chicago tenement. The story centers on the divergent dreams of three generations of the Younger family. The tensions and prejudice they face form this seminal American drama, and their heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a timeless portrayal of hope and inspiration.

This groundbreaking play, originally produced in 1959, was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway, where it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play and starred the legendary actors Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. In 2014, 55 years later, a Broadway revival of this American classic garnered three Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play."